The Council Era
by FlamingEyebrows
Summary: Set in 87 CE, this twisting tale of political intrigue, fragile alliances, and sudden betrayals follows the efforts of politician Tyrin Lieph, the center of a perfect political storm, as he struggles to bring the Rachni War to an end while keeping the unpredictable Manaba and savage Dezba and Krogans under control. But be warned: None is safe from the treachery of the Council.
1. Introduction

TCE is not set in the Mass Effect universe as you all, or at least as those that play the games without ever bothering to glance at the Codex, know it.

The Council Era begins in the year 87 CE, seven years after the Council's Uplift Project brought the Krogan race and a new race not mentioned to exist in ME canon, the Dezba, into intergalactic society. The galaxy has been consumed by a war with the endless swarms of Rachni that are encroaching on Citadel Space.

Presently, only the two species that originally discovered the Citadel in 500 BCE have members on the Council, with most of the other races, namely the Volus, Elcor, Hanar, Batarians and Quarians, having ambassadors on the Citadel. Only the two Uplifted Races and the Manaba do not have ambassadors, the latter being due to the Emperor's staunch resistance towards cooperation with the Council on any terms.

As the story begins, the Manaban Emperor has finally agreed to meet with the Council to discuss the beginning of a cooperative relationship. However, between the arrival of this controversial and notoriously volatile figure, and the pressures of the Krogan Overlord for his people to be granted more power in intergalactic politics and the Citadel Military, The Citadel may very well be plunged into a war of its own.

TCE follows the efforts of the minor politician Tyrin Lieph, the center of this perfect political storm, as he struggles to bring the Rachni War to an end while keeping the unpredictable Manaba and savage Dezba and Krogans under control.

* * *

**Characters**

Though Tyrin is the center of the perfect political storm that drives the plot, TCE follows a wide and diverse cast of characters, primarily those that are either directly involved in the conflicts brewing on the Citadel, or are involved in the war effort against the Rachni. Characters from whose Point of View at least one chapter is written will be designated by an asterisk.

The Character Sheets will be updated as the story progresses.

The Council

The governing political body of the galaxy, the Council resides on the Citadel, from which they enforce interplanetary and interspecies law. It consists of two representatives, one from each species that originally discovered the Citadel in 500 BCE.

Telia Millangada, Asari Councilor

*Roran Freid, Salarian Councilor

*Tyrin Lieph, Salarian advisor to Roran - Foran Lieph, son of Tyrin

Ambassadors

In contrast with the Councilors and their advisor, ambassadors hold considerably less political sway over the Citadel, and must personally invest themselves into a task if they hope to achieve an impact upon the station's politics.

*Kaso Hensa, Batarian ambassador, Currently investigating a potential conspiracy against the Manaban Emperor. - Kal'Xen, Quarian assistant

Citadel Civilians

Civilian residents of the Citadel station

Solack Drev, Volus news reporter

Jhosu Rann, Former Batarian Soldier and War Criminal, associate of Kaso Hensa

Citadel Military

Soldiers that have either directly enlisted with the united, multi-species army that answers to the Citadel's political authorities, or were recruited/employed as part of the draft that was activated shortly into the Rachni Wars.

*Foran Lieph, Salarian lieutenant

*Kredawt Drox, Krogan soldier

*Takavor Sevrika, Dezban Chieftain

Krogans

The Krogan are a bipedal reptilian species from the planet of Tuchanka, a radioactive wasteland as a result of a nuclear war two thousand years before the Krogan were selected by the Council for the Uplift Project, an attempt to recruit species, that had not yet achieved space travel, in the fight against the Rachni swarms.

*Tikrog Kurvok, Krogan Overlord. - *Halak Marr, his advisor

Kredawt Drox, A mysterious Krogan soldier in the service of the Citadel military

Other Species

Members and leaders of various other races that coexist on the Citadel aside from the core three, ie. Asari, Salarians and Krogans.

Derimakshan, Manaban Emperor

*Sevalaus Morkaneto, Dezban Mercenary

Tyrin's Agents

Men and women that have sworn themselves into the service of Tyrin Lieph, dedicated to his vision for ending the Rachni Wars and preserving the galaxy afterward.

*Adaria, Veteran Asari Agent

* * *

**Timeline of Events Preceding TCE's Beginning**

1 CE: A Citadel expedition opens a dormant mass relay that leads to the Rachni star systems. Contact with the Rachni is made, swiftly leading into war between them and the rest of the galaxy.

63 CE: Tyrin Lieph arrives on the Citadel, having been personally selected to serve as an advisor to the Council. Foran Lieph hatches shortly beforehand.

76 CE: Telia Millangada is selected as the new Asari Councilor to replace the recently deceased Councilor Abania.

80 CE: The Citadel's Uplift Project, after being approved by the Council, sends teams of Salarians to make contact with the Krogan and Dezban races on their respective home planets of Tuchanka and Coralus. The Krogan and Dezba are gradually integrating into galactic society, though the primary reason for their being accepted into the fold is to use the two species as shock troops against the Rachni.

82 CE: The seven chieftains of the strongest clans on Tuchanka agree to form a military pact to unite the Krogan people under a single banner. Tikrog Kurvok is appointed the Overlord of this Krogan Union at the approximated age of 845.. Kurvok serves as an ambassador to the Citadel henceforth.

* * *

**Dezba**

The dezba were a reptilian species that fought in the Rachni Wars before their extinction. After the Great War erased all traits of their original civilization, the dezba quickly became known for savagery and ruthlessness. Their post-Great War society was clan-based, with life revolving around survival and perpetual territorial conflicts. Torture, rape, and cannibalism were very common in this new society.

Biology and Appearance

Dezba were reptilian, stood around two meters tall, and possessed a forked tongue, pale red skin for males, and pale yellow skin for females. They were cold-blooded, though they gave live birth with a gestation period of fourteen months. They would breathe the acidic-vapor atmosphere of their homeworld, Coralus, something that was only possible due to the millions of years of evolution they had went through. Due to Coralus' atmosphere, the planet supported little life. The dezba saw most colors save for blue, purple, and pink which were seen as black to them.

History

The history of the dezban race, though it has now completely vanished from the records of galactic civilization, was organized into three eras. The first was the Golden Era, in which the dezban people evolved from a primitive civilization to a spacefaring society that actively preferred not to be pulled into galactic politics by expanding beyond Coralus. The second was the Great War, during which the civilization, that had been developing for generations, utterly collapsed as a result of a conflict between the two ruling dynasties. The final era was the Wandering Period, the time of their species' last generations before their complete extinction. Not much is known about the early history of the dezba before the Great War. Nearly, if not all, historical records and literature was lost after the Great War. Any buildings that contained scripts and survived the war were soon raided and used for shelters, with the scripts being burned for campfires, or the building itself being destroyed to prevent other groups of survivors from taking the resources available. What is known of pre-Great war dezba includes that they were a spacefaring race, but had chosen not to utilize the Mass Effect relays or colonize other worlds.

They were governed by two dominant dynasties, the Feroto and Din-Yu Empires.

A massive event known as the Great War began at some point in their history, which originated from a petty conflict over the princess of the Din-Yu Empire being impregnated by the prince of the Feroto Empire. This conflict erupted into a full-scale war after the Din-Yu princess was murdered by the Feroto prince to appease his family. Eventually, the war led to the launching of several nuclear missiles on Coralus, which left 60 percent of the landmass as desolate and irradiated. Having once been a fine example of social progress in the galaxy, Coralus was reduced to a nuclear wasteland inhabited by warring, nomadic clans.

In a last-ditch effort to bring their enemies and entire race down with them after their empire had collapsed due to the missile attacks, the remnants of the Feroto dynasty activated the Leviathan. This unleashed a biological superweapon whose design would later be reflected by the genophage. It successfully cleansed 80% of the surviving population from the world, including the remaining Feroto, by "infecting" the populace with a rapidly-progressing genetic mutation that wore down their respiratory system, preventing them from properly breathing Coralus' atmosphere, leading to suffocation in a matter of weeks or months.

The remaining population had each individual cell within their bodies infected with a more long-term form of the virus, that caused their respiratory system to deteriorate over the course of three decades. The disorder that the virus caused became an essential part on each dezba's DNA strand and thus was passed on to all offspring; it was eventually designated as Terolk's Syndrome.

The era that followed the Great War, the nuclear attacks and the activation of the Leviathan, was called the Wandering Period; it was both the bloodiest era in the dezba's history as well as their last. All of the intellectual qualities of their society were forgotten, and the culture became devoid of any meaning. It was a time of clan warfare over women and food. Females were rare in dezba culture and were only 15% of the entire population; food was scarce due to the already acidic atmosphere and nuclear fallout. Thus clans conducted wars going after another clan's females and its males. Due to food shortages, male dezba were often cannabalized by stronger dezba. This cannabilism was not only for captured members of other clans, but to weak members of the same clan, as a weak male was considered a burden. Fellow clan members were, out of respect, killed in their sleep and eaten, while prisoners and criminals were often tortured and sometimes roasted alive before being eaten. This cannibalism eventually became interwoven with the dezba's new culture that formed after the Great War.

Women were another cultural matter that completely changed following the Great War. In battle, women were protected by some of the strongest warriors, as without women there would be no one to birth more people for the clan. It was standard procedure in clan on clan battles to hit whereever the women were with brute force. Women who were captured were raped in hopes of bestowing a pregnancy unto them. Attempts to record dezban history by other races, these records having been demolished by the Council, show warriors raping women on the battlefield in the case they perished in battle. Once captured, the women were used as sex slaves for the rest of their lives with them sleeping with men daily to increase pregnancies. The same applied for women of the same clan who were laid with by clan members as soon as they were physically capable of pregnancy. In order to mate, men needed to prove themselves worthy and strong in battle; that way any pregnancies would not result in a weak child.

In 80 CE the dezba were hired by the council to fight the rachni. In exchange for their services, they were given technology that would put them ahead of rival clans. As well, they all had suits which included a large oxygen tank on their backs filled with acidic vapor to simulate Coralus' atmosphere. On the battlefield, they were feared by all Citadel units, even krogan were terrified by their savagery on the battelfield. Acts like the consumption of cowards and wounded dezba, the eating of rachni and dead citadel soldiers, their haunting war chants, and their uses of blood as war paint gave them a frightening reputation.

Culture

The dezban society that preceded the Great War were on par with the contemporary ambassador species; they were a highly intelligent spacefaring race that were on par with the other ambassador races in terms of significance, although they had never attempted to expand beyond Coralus and colonize. All traces of the dezban advanced society evaporated after the Great War. However, Tyrin Lieph may be able to revert the mental states of the clones he made from Sevalaus Morkaneto's DNA back to pre-Great War if the surgeries are successful.

The dezban culture after the Great War completely changed to revolve around strength and courage, for it was believed that only through those two traits could one's clan succeed. And the clan was considered the base of one's life for without the clan then there would be nothing. No food, no place to live, no battles to wage, and no women to court, just exile, forced to wander the wastes of Coralus for one's entire life. This exile was a punishment considered worse than death by many. Exiles were branded on their faces with a universally accepted "W" for weak, and were cast off by all clans and forbidden to carry weaponry so that they must live the remainder of their days and not cut them short. This punishment of exile was given only to the most severe of criminals in the dezba's culture, those who betrayed their clan.

Religion

The dezba of the Golden era believed in multiple gods. There were a god of war, of fire, of judgment, of water, of wind, of earth, and of creation, with all gods reigning over lesser beings. However, after the Leviathan, the dezba, believing they had been abandoned by the seven gods, abandoned all religious beliefs in turn. The dezba started using a new language, only speaking in the limited old language that they understood for important matters. They now believed the gods, before they disappeared from existence, had given the dezba Terolk's Syndrome so that they could never rise to the power they once had. This belief became widespread due to the incredibly-limited understanding of technology that the dezba developed in the generations after the Leviathan's activation. The dezba also believed that they were now the inherent rulers of Coralus. "Damn the gods, for we have become them," or "Toras Raiet" in the old language, were words spoken by a warrior in his last breaths to signify that he had come to terms with his people's fall from grace.

* * *

**Manaba**

The Manaba were a warm-blooded, reptilian, bipedal species that were native to the planet Ragnora. They never officially joined the Citadel, due to their monarch's belief that being a part of a larger interspecies galactic community would undermine his people's independence. Despite this, he was perfectly willing to send manaban refugees from planets that were taken by the rachni to the Citadel.

Manaba followed the Five Wills, which they believed were an essential guideline for eternal life and happiness. They also followed a complex caste system based on their religious history.

Biology

Manaba were, as previously mentioned, a warm-blooded reptilian race, whose natural planet's atmosphere was basic enough for them to adapt to that of the Citadel. During their first contact with an alien species, this being the brief war with the rachni that preceded the loss of their homeworld, those that came into contact with the rachni caught a disease that would slowly deteriorate their skin and organs. Only high-class "descendants of the originally redeemed" manaba were provided with the antibiotics to prevent the disease from drastically affecting their bodies. The disease can take up to twenty-five years to reduce a manaba to complete bodily failure.

Similarly, manaba that were of the low class, or were bound from birth to slavery, were generally stunted in their growth due to malnutrition, and their bodies were thinner and deprived of muscle due to the fact that only high-class manaba were treated with stimulants or given proper training. Under the cultural beliefs, this was not only justified, but morally right.

History and Society

It is taught in the manaban faith that the beloved ninth Manaban Emperor, Derocrik II, believed that he could ascend to the station of their gods through an elaborate ritual involving sacrifices, but it is said that the gods struck down Derocrik and he was left for dead in his temple. However, his daughter was able to preserve his life, but for a cost. So that he would be saved, Derocrik was forced to swear that, for the rest of his life, he would take the words of his prophetess daughter to heart. The first generation of manaba that worked towards redemption in the eyes of the gods created a precedent for manaban society.

As a result, the descendants of the "original redeemers" are members of the high class, provided with proper shelter and nutrition; the lower class, the descendants of those that resisted Derocrik's newfound religion or the "original heretics," are forced to work to earn money, food and shelter. Those are the descendants of the redeemer's servants make up the slave class; the members of each of the three classes remain in their status for their entire lives, without exception. In 69 CE, the invading rachni made first contact with the manaban homeworld of Ragnora. After three weeks, when thirty-five percent of Ragnora's territory had been taken and all of the non-military high-class manaba had been evacuated, Emperor Derimakshan gave the order to eighty percent of the manaban military. They reacted to the initial assault with a brutal counterattack on the rachni-claimed territory. Over the next fourteen months, Ragnora was reduced to a barren wasteland of stone, engulfed in ash and the remains of both manaba and rachni. Several planets in the surrounding area, that had been prepared for colonization in the case of such an emergency, were occupied by the remaining manaban population.

In the year 74 CE, Citadel scouting ships made first contact with a manaban colonial planet. Within weeks, Emperor Derimakshan and Asari Councilor Telia Millangada had made contact via holograph, and negotiations were opened.

The Five Wills

The Five Wills were the key of the manaban religion. It was believed by the manaba that after his failed ascension, Derocrik II followed the advice of his daughter, thus allowing him to be offered a chance for his people's redemption by the goddess Aterdil. This redemption could only be earned by the fufillance of the five wills throughout one's life, which were relayed to manaban people by the prophetess. They were:

Fight for your Gods. Ye who betrayed thee father in war should take arms for he.

Thou shall not kill thee fellow manabans. Ye who are bound together to stave the Void shall work as brothers to escape damnation.

Thou shall not engage in dishonest activities of theft, adultery, fraud and bribery, for they only promise damnation to the Void.

There is no god above thee father and none you shall worship above. Such is the blasphemy that damned the manaba to seek redemption.

Remember your place. None can be more powerful than their father; thoughts of such are blasphemy.

By following these wills, the manaba believed that they could earn redemption, and in death, they would be rewarded by a life in Solitude, whereas failure to devote themsleves to the Five Wills resulted in damnation to the suffering and eternal silence of the Void.

* * *

And so the storm begins . . .


	2. The Preceding Arguments

Tyrin's prediction that the Council's vast public chamber would not survive the current tensions was, without any sort of denial being plausible, accurate. The Councilors had not even begun to court their audience, and yet bitter and heated arguments had already erupted amongst the attending civilians, severing any potential for the Council to provide a resolution on that day. From the sidelines, the assistant patiently observed as the two representatives, Roran Freid of the salarians, and Telia Millangada of the asari, swiftly strode past him to the center stage, commanding their public's attention with every step, with their own particular brand of bloated ego. Though his superior's vision and strategy were never obscured by it, Roran's self-importance yearned for new boundaries to cross.

The emperor of the manaban people, after years of strenuous attempts at coercion, had finally agreed to directly meet with the Council and address the galactic public. It had been nearly a decade since his people was introduced to the galactic community, but he stubbornly insisted that his kind had no need to sacrifice their absolute independence for the sake of diplomacy with, "those that are not blessed." That the monarch had strong conviction in the teachings of their world's sole religion, there could be no doubt. It had remained unclear exactly how far the depths of his devoutness reached. Tonight would unveil the approach that the emperor would have in regards to the threat poised by the Rachni, and to cooperation with the other races. The refugees of the manaba had been able to leech off of the Citadel for far too long, without any sort of justification for not contributing to the war effort aside from protecting their people's own worlds.

Roran's commandment of "Silence!" echoed through the cavernous chambers, instantaneously banishing all chatter from the room. The boisterous crowd before him had been tamed at once, his years of stern control over the populace providing hefty weight to his words. "In mere moments from now, the first diplomatic contact with the Manaban Emperor shall be made in our station's history. I understand that some of you have grown restless, resentful towards the manaba for occupying our wards whilst their leader provides nothing in return. But that will all change tonight. Our military need not rely on our wild card as much as we have feared."

* * *

From the opposite end of the chamber, a gruff voice vociferously interjected Roran's speech, as a titanic krogan adorned in fresh battle armor marched through the aisles, followed by an advisor on his heels and a pair of guards behind him. "Is that all we are to you, a mere wild card? A weapon to be utilized against the rachni that will _hopefully _not backfire in the process?"

The krogan gestured to the citizens that surrounded him, as they gaped in awe at his arrival. "My people are without argument far more significant than the majority of the races on this station. The two most powerful species are, of course, the salarians and the asari. But the asari are the only exception to what I shall say; even the brilliant salarians expire after mere decades. A single krogan, in their own, solitary lifespan, can accomplish more than a dozen salarians could together. Every single one of us is entitled to up to a thousand years of achievement and glory. That renders all of the other species irrelevant by comparison, as they are utterly overshadowed by what a truly great krogan can amount to."

The Asari Councilor pressed two of her left fingers against her temple, closed her eyes, and sighed. She proceeded to respond to the overlord's outburst, upon reverting to her calm visage. "My counterpart had no intention of diminishing the weight that your people carry, Overlord. Without the soldiers that you have already provided, the manaba's few remaining planets would have been lost. To say the least, you have been far more supportive of the Council than the Manaban Emperor. He was merely addressing the fact that your people's presence in the Citadel's military is considered a security risk by some of the public.

"Your actions and reactions are difficult to predict, that you cannot deny, Overlord. What just happened is a perfect example. For the previous several weeks, you have been quite cooperative, with the Manaban Emperor's impending arrival possibly being attributable to your behavior. And now, one offhand remark by my counterpart leads to this tirade." Struggling to maintain a respectful tone, she continued. "Do you think that your kind deserves better representation, Overlord? Should you be present at each of our meetings, from now on?"


End file.
